Second Chances
by kiwikid55
Summary: Of all the people and all the places, Cloud didn't expect it to be him and he didn't expect it to be here.


**Second Chances**

**Of all the places and all the people to meet, Cloud wasn't expecting it to be him, and he wasn't expecting it to be here.**

The Olympic Coliseum was vast, a whole world of golden sand and dust and immense golden figures in the shape of conquering heroes that rose up to guard the gateway in. It was so light, a sepia-toned kingdom lit with lamps of fire, framed by pillars of stone that looked as if they blended right into the earth below them and hung with boards that informed those who cared to look of the results of tournament after tournament. The Hades Cup, The Phil Cup and on and on and on until no one except those competing in them really cared.

Cloud hated the place. It was a cage, one that he saw no hope of leaving any time soon. Hades, and the deal that Cloud had made with him, that contract with the darkness, kept him here, bound. There had always been darkness in Cloud, deep within his soul for as long as he could remember. Sephiroth, something to do with him, Cloud didn't really know, he didn't know at all, but he didn't like the way it made him feel, that darkness. He had lost his light some years ago, sometime when the heartless had appeared in his world, had stolen it away from him and the others that had lived there, and he had been powerless to help. He had given in to the darkness and now he wanted it gone, he wanted it out of him, and wanted his life to be ruled by light once again. When or why he had thought making a bargain with Hades would help, Cloud didn't know. He didn't know anything anymore, anything and nothing and everything, he didn't know, he didn't-

Cloud himself was leant against one of the pillars that framed the edge of the arena, where the tournaments were held. It lay just beyond the little room that Phil usually occupied, filled with sand and a circling of stone seats that were rarely filled these days. Heroes were few and far between now. The arena was filled with people today, or at least with a handful of them, though that was the busiest Cloud had ever seen it to be. Phil was there, trotting around on little cloven feet, yelling at the others in the ring with his usual tone of dim-wittedness and command. Hercules was there too, a thin wisp of boy with a full head of hair and a toga in eggshell white that seemed three sizes too large for him. Hades had supposedly hired Cloud to deal with him, to stop the hero, the son of Zeus, from stopping whatever it was that Hades was planning. To look at him though, Cloud wasn't convinced that the boy was a threat. It was the third figure though that had managed to capture Cloud's steely eyes, and it was the third figure that Cloud was watching from his place in the shadow of the pillar. Oh, the irony that he was in the darkness whilst they were all in the light, the place that Cloud truly wished to be, to walk in, to dance in, free from this curse, this influence, whatever it was that had cursed his soul.

Because how could Cloud ever forget the smile that belonged to Zack Fair, how could he ever forget that head of head, the colour of spilled ink or the tail feathers of a raven? His friend, his mentor, his- that had been a world ago, a whole lifetime. Things had changed since then, Cloud had changed and from the looks of things, so had Zack. It wasn't the Zack Fair that Cloud knew, because this one was just a boy, just a teenager who looked as if he had always been in this world and never been in the one that Cloud had been in before. This Zack had never joined SOLDIER, this Zack had never been kidnapped, and this Zack had never- never what? Never died? That much was obvious, because he was here, and he was breathing and alive and hadn't known any of the hardships that his Zack had. Cloud couldn't tear his eyes away. He knew it was only a matter of time before he was spotted in the shadows and someone called to his attention, and he wasn't sure that he could cope with having this Zack spotting him here. How could he face him when he was so ashamed of who he was?

Cloud wasn't sure what was going on in the arena today. It looked as if there was a match or something between Hercules and between Zack, a test of whatever so that Phil could pick the one he would train. Cloud didn't know who to hope for, because he already knew that Zack was capable of making it on his own with the need for a goat-legged, pot-bellied man to try him. Cloud had seen it with his own eyes; Zack had the heart of a hero burning inside him. Cloud had seen it many times, when Zack had come swooping down to rescue him or drag him out with the other guys to a bar to let loose for a change. But that was his Zack, the boy Zack sparring in the ring had never known that, he had never met Cloud, never known what they had had, back in that other world, when it had just been him and they had had nothing to worry about.

So Cloud stood, in the shadows like the darkness in his heart, and he watched as the two sparred. He watched as Hercules inevitably won, though after much hard work and a valiant effort from Zack. He watched as Hercules was picked to be Phil's hero-in-training, and how Zack just smiled and laughed and waved off the loss, calling it nothing more than lousy luck and stating that he would still be a hero one day. Even in this world, Zack was still the same as Cloud remembered. Was that a good thing or not? His Zack had been through so much, and acted just as this Zack did. Surely that was a good thing, like a second chance, on the horizon, beckoning Cloud forward into the light.

It was at that moment that Zack began to turn, to leave the arena no doubt. Cloud decided he should move too, to run away as he was so used to doing, before Zack could see him. It was at that moment that even as a teenager, Zack was still faster than Cloud. It was at that moment that Cloud heard his name called, by a voice that he definitely recognised that sounded only a few years younger, less wise than the one he knew. It was at that moment that Cloud froze, stuck the tip of his sword into the sand to prop it up; awaiting a greeting he wasn't sure he was ready for.

The sound of footsteps falling in the sand, approaching Cloud, reached his ears. He still didn't turn around, but he didn't make any motion to run either. It was when they were right upon him that Cloud turned, on a whim, on his heel at the last moment, to spy the little Zack rushing at him with a beaming smile and flyaway hair blowing in every direction. He wasn't used to this Zack, the one that was wearing a Coliseum armour uniform. Cloud was used to tall, strapping Zack in a black SOLDIER uniform, one that he had thrown himself at in a daze of emotion so many times after the death of his mother, when he felt his training was set to fail.

Zack's arms were out, they were open, and in the space of mere seconds Cloud felt them wrap around his waist as the boy hugged him, with enough momentum from his run to send both of them flying in a slow-motion daze toward the sandy floor. Cloud couldn't help but lay a hand to the boy's hand, ruffle the hair in a way that his Zack had done to him so many times. It was like a total role reversal. He had looked up to his elder, his mentor, his Zack, like a brother, the father figure he'd never had, and so, so much more. The boy had been him, the man Zack, and now- now it was different, a completely circular motion. Zack was laughing. His laugh sounded just like Cloud remembered, though he knew that Zack didn't know him, didn't know it was the same, didn't know it made Cloud's heart pang like stuck in a vice. Neither seemed to make an effort to get up; Zack remained sat on Cloud's chest, Cloud remained with his hand on Zack's head.

"I thought I saw you by one of the pillars," the boy laughed, beaming. "I can't tell you how exciting it is to meet you! Is it true you really fought Sephiroth? That's so cool!"

Cloud had to stop a smile tweaking his lips. Just like Zack, even know, just like a little puppy, lost and yet excited that someone had taken enough attention of him.

"You're my hero Cloud," Zack went on to continue, and the blonde didn't know what to say to that. How could he even be worthy of such a title when he was so riddled with darkness? When he had done nothing to help his world, his friends, had let his light go away, how could he? "I wanna be just like you when I grow up, so let's be friends, okay?"

Maybe there was such a thing as second chances after all…

"I'm Zack Fair, hero in training!"

Just… maybe.


End file.
